General Assembly Adopts by Consensus Decisions on Upcoming 2023 Water Conference, 2024 High-Level Political Forum Tackling Sustainable Development
The General Assembly today adopted by consensus two decisions, one on the 2024 session of the Economic and Social Council and its high-level political forum on sustainable development and the other on the upcoming 2023 United Nations Water Conference.
By the text “Annual theme of the 2024 session of the Economic and Social Council and the 2024 high-level political forum on sustainable development and the set of Sustainable Development Goals to be reviewed by the high-level political forum in 2024” (document A/77/L.57), the Assembly decided that the theme for both shall be “Reinforcing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and eradicating poverty in times of multiple crises: the effective delivery of sustainable, resilient and innovative solutions”. It also decided that the 2024 high-level political forum — without prejudice to the integrated, indivisible and interlinked nature of the Sustainable Development Goals — shall review Goals 1, 2, 13, 16 and 17 in depth.
Prior to adoption, the representative of Chile, who conducted the informal consultations on that draft decision, thanked delegations for their valuable contributions. She voiced hope that the decision will guide the work of the Economic and Social Council and the high-level political forum in 2024, providing political leadership and promoting system-wide coherence and coordination for sustainable development policies.
In addition, the General Assembly, by the oral decision on the “United Nations Conference on the Midterm Comprehensive Review of the Implementation of the Objectives of the International Decade for Action, ‘Water for Sustainable Development’, 2018-2028”, revised the start time of this Conference so that the first plenary meeting on Wednesday, 22 March, will take place from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. It also decided that the Presidents of the Conference will proceed to appoint co-Chairs of the interactive dialogues to take place during the Conference. It additionally decided to accredit the organizations identified in the Secretariat’s note (document A/77/781) and invite them to participate as intergovernmental organizations with observer status in the Conference’s work.
At the top of the meeting, the General Assembly took note of two letters addressed to its President from the Secretary-General — dated 7 February (document A/77/702/Add.3) and 2 March (document A/77/702/Add.4) — informing the Assembly that, since the issuance of his 3 February letter (document A/77/702/Add.2), Gabon, Lebanon and South Sudan have made the payment necessary to reduce arrears below the amount specified in Article 19 of the Charter of the United Nations.
The General Assembly will reconvene at a time and date to be announced.